Accelerator



w. l. HALLOCK.

ACCELERATOR. APPLICATION FlLED APR. 8, I919.

Patehted Mar. 23, 1920.

/NVENT0I?Y WILL/AM HALLOCK WILLIAM I. HALLOGK, OF LONE PINE, CALIFORNIA.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 23, 1920.

Application filed April 8, 1919. Serial No. 288,637.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WVILLIAM a citizen of the United States, residing at Lone Pine, in the county of l-nyo and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Accelerators, of which the following is a specification My object is to make an accelerator for controlling internal combustion engines, and my invention consists of the novel features herein shown, described and claimed.

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a steering wheel as seen looking in the direction indicated by the arrow 1 in Fig. 2, and showing an accelerator embodying the principles of my invention in use.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation looking in the direction indicated by the arrowQ in Fig. 1, parts being broken away and shown in section.

Fig. 3 is a perspective of the accelerator handle. 1

Fig. l is a perspective of the lever mechanism controlled by the handle shown in Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a horizontal section on the lines 55 of Figs. 2 and 4t and looking downwardly.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary perspective of the lower end of the steering post and showing the spring mechanism for returning the throttle mechanism to normal position to close the throttle.

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the lever movements Referring to Fig. 6, the steering post 1 is mounted between the timer shaft 2 and the throttle shaft 3. The throttle shaft 3 has a crank 4E at its lower end; a leaf spring 5 is placed against the steering post 1 and hooked under the timer shaft 2 and the free end of the spring is connected to the crank 4: by a link 6, the tension of the spring 5 being exerted to return the throttle shaft 8 to its normal position with the throttle closed. The throttle shaft lever 7 extends at right angles from the upper end of the shaft 3.

Referring to Figs. t and 5, the base plate 8 is substantially rectangular in plan, clamping arms 9 and 10 extend from the opposite corners of the base 8, and a clamping screw 11 is inserted through the ends of the arms 9 and 10; a seat 12 is formed between the arms 9 and 10 and the base 8 to receive the steering post 13; the arms 9 I. T'IALLOGK,.

and 10 are connected to the base 8 by pivot pins 14- and 15, so that the arms may spread apart to pass around the steering post; a frame 16 extends upwardly from the base 8 at right angles and at the opposite side of the base from the pivot pins 1 1 and 15; a lever 17 fits upwardly against the base 8 and is connected to the base by a pivot 18 inserted through the lever intermediate of its ends and through the base near its center; a link 19 is connected to the long end of the lever 17 and a clamp 20 is connected to the link 19. The clamp 20 is adapted to be mounted upon the lever 7.

A lever 21 is formed of sheet metal and comprises the upper plate 22, the lower plate 23, and the bearing cars 24. A pin 25 is in serted through the bearing ears 24; and through corresponding ears extending in wardly from the upper end of the frame 16. The plates 22 and 23 are substantially at right angles to each other, and the upper inner end of the plate 22 has a semicircular notch 26 adapted to fit around the upper end of the steering post shaft 27. A link 28 connects the lower end of the plate 23 to the short end of the lever 17, so that as the lever 21 vibrates upon the pivot 25 the lever 17 will vibrate upon the pivot 18. A hearing bracket 29 extends from the plate 23, and an eccentric lever 30 is connected to the bracket 29 by a pivot screw 31 inserted through a coil spring 32 through the eccentric lever 30 and tapped into the bracket 29. The edge of the eccentric lever 30 extends through a slot in the plate 23 to engage the frame 16,

so that as the handle 33 of the eccentric lever is swung downwardly, as in Fig. 4:, the plate 23 may swing toward the frame 16, and as the handle 33 is swung upwardly the lower end of the plate 23 is forced outwardly from the frame 16. The line of levers from the plate 22 to the lever 7 is connected so that when the handle 33 is thrown upwardly the throttle is left open to resist the tension of the spring 5, and so that when the handle 38 is swung downwardly the spring 5 may close the throttle. A flange extends inwardly from the upper end-of the frame 16. A large hole 34 is formed through the plate 22. and

. a screw 35 is inserted downwardly loosely through the hole 3& and through the flange and into the gear casing 36 to support the upper end of the frame 16.

The accelerator handle 37 consists of a The handle 37 is placed in position under the spokes 43 of the steering wheel 44 with the bearing portion 38 fitting loosely around the steering post shaft 27 and bearing upon the plate 22, and the rim 40 is below the outer ends'of the spokes 43 and inside of the circle of the rim 44. Depressions 45 are formed in the rim 40 to fit the spokes 43.

V hen the operator grasps the rim 44 with one, or both hands, the thumbs of the operators hands will be near to the rim 40, and

7' when there "is no pressure of the thumbs upon the rim 40 the throttle will be closed by the tension of the spring 5, and when the pressure is applied to the rim 40 at any point within the circle to depress the rim at that point, the lever 37 will operate to depress the plate 22,-to operate the string of levers to'move the lever 7 backwardly to open the throttle and the throttle will open in proportion to the movement of the rim 40.

When the rim is pressed down at one side the opposite side of the rim contacting with and pressing upwardly on the spokes 4-3 forms the fulcrum, and the contact with the plate 22 forms the load or weight.

Thus I have produced an accelerator for controlling internal combustion engines by which the operator of a vehicle may control the throttle of the engine with the hand the t grips the steering wheel and without releasing the hand from the steering wheel, or moving the hand upon the steering wheel.

Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit of my invention as claimed:

I claim:

In an accelerator comprising in combination with a steering post and wheel, a mounting-for a rocker arm having means for clamping the mounting to the steering post, a rocker arm pivotally mounted to the rocker arm mounting, means connecting the rocker arm with an engine throttle, a second wheel having a rim of a diameter somewhat less than the diameter of the steering wheel and positioned somewhat below the steering wheel and connected by spokes to the rocker arm so that by tilting the second wheel the engine throttle will be operated to open and close.

I11 testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM I. HALLOCK. 

